bsg fic: Kat
Goodnight, Kat
(mostly fits the 5 times format)
PG
spoilers through "The Passage"
characters: Helo, Racetrack, Hotdog, Lee, Cottle
just over 1000 words
beta-reader: jashyr
remix of this by sabaceanbabe: This Temporary Life
Helo pulled Sharon in close for a hug and kissed the top of her head. Thank the gods she seemed to be recovering well. He let go of her and walked to get his gear. He was nauseated and didn't know if it was from the radiation or the meds. Feeling wobbly, he leaned against his locker for a moment then opened it to pull out his badge. It was black. He blinked. He was sure it was splotchy when he put it there earlier, but it was definitely black now; no white showing at all. He stood there and tried to get his brain to function. What to do now? Someone else would have to fly his raptor. He went to look for Apollo to tell him the news.
Later, when Kat returned and collapsed, he understood but he didn't know why. His heart ached as he watched the medics wheel her toward sickbay. He looked for a sign from her as she passed by, waited for a word, but she just stared at the ceiling, face ashen, a small smile curving her lips.
He hugged Sharon again, aware of the steady beating of his heart against hers.
- - - - -
Lee had never liked her voice. It was abrasive, even over the staticky comms. And she was brash and small and aggressive. (He already had one pilot like that in his life and that was enough.)
When the New Caprica settlement began Kat became CAG. She seemed more confident, less prone to harshness in the void left by other pilots. Everyone relaxed, Kat included. Then the cylons returned. He found himself listening for Kat's voice over the comms during the training exercises, alternately cajoling or harassing the other pilots. He thought that she had matured. He even enjoyed it a bit, hearing her manage the others. (Listening to her eased his emptiness a little.)
After the rescue they were both bumped down in rank because of the loss of Pegasus. Kat showed a grace about it that he hoped he displayed as well. Back to the humdrum exhilaration of flying, her voice over the comms didn't bother him now. When he realized she wasn't going to live he felt regret. And he was angry at her. No more of her abrasive voice snapping at the others. (Now he couldn't tune out that other voice.)
- - - - -
They had the kind of closeness that came from long-term proximity rather than shared interests or compatibility. Meg never enjoyed the company of the viper pilots anyway--they were too high-strung, not to mention the size of their egos. Kat wasn't any different, but they hadn't clashed much.
The one time they really clicked was late one night playing cards. Lee Adama was there--he'd come over from the Pegasus to meet with his father. Somehow he had managed to get what had to be one of the last jars of Tyrol's booze. Everyone was taking sips, betting their hoarded toiletries and relaxing. Apollo ended up losing another razor and was pissed, saying that Dee would kill him. Meg and Kat started laughing at the same time--maybe it was the alcohol, or his drunken petulant tone, or his pudgier face, or imagining Dee's reaction, but both women giggled hysterically as he looked disgruntled. He finally capped the jar and started to leave until Kat mocked him into staying for another round.
After that they had a small edge of... well, she wouldn't call it friendship, but they shared some half-smiles as the tension rose, waiting for the time they would finally go to rescue the people on New Caprica.
Meg had waited for the Admiral to leave sickbay, then slipped in to say goodbye. Kat had asked her to find Hotdog and she did. She almost ran into him in the corridor. He was pacing, hands clenching and unclenching. She said, "Kat asked to see you."
He muttered something and brushed past her. Feeling more of an obligation than she wanted, she followed him. They ended up in the enlisted head, which was deserted at that late hour.
"Hey," she said sharply. "She just wants to talk for a minute." He didn't answer; he just leaned against the wall as if it were holding him up. Maybe it was, because next he slid down it until he was crouching on the floor. His head was bowed forward and she couldn't see his face.
Sighing, she sat next to him, knees pointing toward the ceiling and gripping her ankles. She looked at him; he was pale. She waited until finally he spoke.
"It's just... we never talked about anything important. And now... " He started to cry, almost silently, his body shaking with the quiet sobs. He grabbed her knees and continued crying, hot tears dampening her legs through her trousers.
Since the worlds ended she hadn't thought of herself as the maternal type. But she found herself doing what women everywhere have done with a weeping child. She rubbed her hands across his shoulder blades and whispered, "It's okay, it's okay," while he cried his heartbreak.
- - - - -
Earlier he had snuck one quick drag from his cigarette in the corner of sickbay. No point in irritating her lungs in her last moments; she wouldn't be getting in the way of his smokes for very long. After seeing a twinge of pain cross her face he had checked the morpha dripping into the IV line then reset the heart rate monitor to a quieter level before returning to his corner chair. He'd be waiting, he didn't know for how long. He heard her breathing across the room, raspier than before.
A few pilots came in, voices hushed. They held her hand and whispered. She stirred slightly but didn't return to consciousness.
It was the steadiness of the noise that woke him. He didn't know what time it was, just that his body wanted to sleep and his back hurt from dozing off in the chair. He walked to her side and turned off the heart monitor, then quickly disconnected the remaining wires and tubes. She'd been healthy before, bossy and energetic. Just the type to piss him off. It was a damn shame. He intended to hang on to his body and be a pain in the ass for as long as he could manage. Gently he pulled her sheet upward and draped it across her face.
(mostly fits the 5 times format)
PG
spoilers through "The Passage"
characters: Helo, Racetrack, Hotdog, Lee, Cottle
just over 1000 words
beta-reader: jashyr
remix of this by sabaceanbabe: This Temporary Life
Helo pulled Sharon in close for a hug and kissed the top of her head. Thank the gods she seemed to be recovering well. He let go of her and walked to get his gear. He was nauseated and didn't know if it was from the radiation or the meds. Feeling wobbly, he leaned against his locker for a moment then opened it to pull out his badge. It was black. He blinked. He was sure it was splotchy when he put it there earlier, but it was definitely black now; no white showing at all. He stood there and tried to get his brain to function. What to do now? Someone else would have to fly his raptor. He went to look for Apollo to tell him the news.
Later, when Kat returned and collapsed, he understood but he didn't know why. His heart ached as he watched the medics wheel her toward sickbay. He looked for a sign from her as she passed by, waited for a word, but she just stared at the ceiling, face ashen, a small smile curving her lips.
He hugged Sharon again, aware of the steady beating of his heart against hers.
- - - - -
Lee had never liked her voice. It was abrasive, even over the staticky comms. And she was brash and small and aggressive. (He already had one pilot like that in his life and that was enough.)
When the New Caprica settlement began Kat became CAG. She seemed more confident, less prone to harshness in the void left by other pilots. Everyone relaxed, Kat included. Then the cylons returned. He found himself listening for Kat's voice over the comms during the training exercises, alternately cajoling or harassing the other pilots. He thought that she had matured. He even enjoyed it a bit, hearing her manage the others. (Listening to her eased his emptiness a little.)
After the rescue they were both bumped down in rank because of the loss of Pegasus. Kat showed a grace about it that he hoped he displayed as well. Back to the humdrum exhilaration of flying, her voice over the comms didn't bother him now. When he realized she wasn't going to live he felt regret. And he was angry at her. No more of her abrasive voice snapping at the others. (Now he couldn't tune out that other voice.)
- - - - -
They had the kind of closeness that came from long-term proximity rather than shared interests or compatibility. Meg never enjoyed the company of the viper pilots anyway--they were too high-strung, not to mention the size of their egos. Kat wasn't any different, but they hadn't clashed much.
The one time they really clicked was late one night playing cards. Lee Adama was there--he'd come over from the Pegasus to meet with his father. Somehow he had managed to get what had to be one of the last jars of Tyrol's booze. Everyone was taking sips, betting their hoarded toiletries and relaxing. Apollo ended up losing another razor and was pissed, saying that Dee would kill him. Meg and Kat started laughing at the same time--maybe it was the alcohol, or his drunken petulant tone, or his pudgier face, or imagining Dee's reaction, but both women giggled hysterically as he looked disgruntled. He finally capped the jar and started to leave until Kat mocked him into staying for another round.
After that they had a small edge of... well, she wouldn't call it friendship, but they shared some half-smiles as the tension rose, waiting for the time they would finally go to rescue the people on New Caprica.
Meg had waited for the Admiral to leave sickbay, then slipped in to say goodbye. Kat had asked her to find Hotdog and she did. She almost ran into him in the corridor. He was pacing, hands clenching and unclenching. She said, "Kat asked to see you."
He muttered something and brushed past her. Feeling more of an obligation than she wanted, she followed him. They ended up in the enlisted head, which was deserted at that late hour.
"Hey," she said sharply. "She just wants to talk for a minute." He didn't answer; he just leaned against the wall as if it were holding him up. Maybe it was, because next he slid down it until he was crouching on the floor. His head was bowed forward and she couldn't see his face.
Sighing, she sat next to him, knees pointing toward the ceiling and gripping her ankles. She looked at him; he was pale. She waited until finally he spoke.
"It's just... we never talked about anything important. And now... " He started to cry, almost silently, his body shaking with the quiet sobs. He grabbed her knees and continued crying, hot tears dampening her legs through her trousers.
Since the worlds ended she hadn't thought of herself as the maternal type. But she found herself doing what women everywhere have done with a weeping child. She rubbed her hands across his shoulder blades and whispered, "It's okay, it's okay," while he cried his heartbreak.
- - - - -
Earlier he had snuck one quick drag from his cigarette in the corner of sickbay. No point in irritating her lungs in her last moments; she wouldn't be getting in the way of his smokes for very long. After seeing a twinge of pain cross her face he had checked the morpha dripping into the IV line then reset the heart rate monitor to a quieter level before returning to his corner chair. He'd be waiting, he didn't know for how long. He heard her breathing across the room, raspier than before.
A few pilots came in, voices hushed. They held her hand and whispered. She stirred slightly but didn't return to consciousness.
It was the steadiness of the noise that woke him. He didn't know what time it was, just that his body wanted to sleep and his back hurt from dozing off in the chair. He walked to her side and turned off the heart monitor, then quickly disconnected the remaining wires and tubes. She'd been healthy before, bossy and energetic. Just the type to piss him off. It was a damn shame. He intended to hang on to his body and be a pain in the ass for as long as he could manage. Gently he pulled her sheet upward and draped it across her face.